Electronic mail clients and online social networks provide universal mechanisms to connect people and information in logical and organized ways and enable sharing and processing of information between the users. Examples of mechanisms of sharing and processing information include the inbox, wall, activity stream, timeline, and profile. These mechanisms enable one to rapidly share information with others and gather information from others in the computer networks.
Online social networks provide a substrate for rumor propagation. Recognizing that information received via friends tends to be trusted, online social networks usually allow individuals to transmit information to many friends at once. The trust between friends is impacted based on posts.
However, many rumors, advertising and non-factual cascades far out live the useful life span. False attributions may occur on outdated information that has been circulating online.